Shades of Gray
by Aquilibra
Summary: Alternate version of the Sonic: Unleashed events. Sonic finds himself as an amnesic werehog who cannot recall much more than his name. Also the fact why the entire Echidna tribe, a really scary fat guy, and a military organization called G.U.N. are after him. He'll find unexpected allies as well. But the most important question is: what did he do? WILL HAVE Sonadow, LATER.
1. After Dark

**Libra: **Yay! Another story!**  
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**Aquila: **Yeah, but what about the other one, she's not just abandoning it is she?**  
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**Aquilibra: **Of course not! I just uh...had a random spark of inspiration last night and just HAD to write a story about Sonic the werehog!**  
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**Aquila: **Sure...**  
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**Libra: **Oooohhh! This one's loooong! OMG, over 2,000 words! *dies***  
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**Aquila: ***poking Libra* Are you okay? 2,000 words isn't that long. It's hardly even a chapter. There are longer paragraphs out there.**  
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**Libra: **Oh my gawd...really? *dies again***  
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**Aquilibra: **Okie dokie, that's...um...nevermind. On with the story!**  
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Note: **I** **do not own** **any of the Sonic the Hedgehog characters**, SEGA does and if you didn't already know that, why are your reading this note? Anyway, Sonic rules, Sonadow forever an' all that good stuff, now read the story!

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**Chapter 1 - After Dark  
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The werehog roared with unbridled rage at his pursuers. For days they had tracked him through the thick forest and even when he'd crossed several rivers in the hope of throwing them off, they still managed to find him. During the day, he could rest easy knowing that they couldn't find him, in daylight he returned to his normal form, thereby becoming effectively hidden. How he wished the dawn would hurry up and COME ALREADY! The determined hunters were edging far too close for comfort tonight. Especially their leader, a red dreadlocked Echidna with a white sideways crescent on his chest, and sharp violet eyes. It was that one Echidna who had caused the werehog the most trouble. Because Red had the eyesight of an eagle and the nose of a bloodhound. (Not to mention the temper of a great white shark) The cobalt werehog had no idea what he'd done to get the angry mob of warriors after him, but he wasn't about to stop and ask. By the looks on their faces and the weapons in their hands, a beating would be the only answer he'd get anyway. Despite that fact, he really did want to know why they were after him. He couldn't remember anything at all really albeit a few days back. Except his name. Sonic. Apart from that, whatever had happened to him was a mystery. Or whatever he'd done.

That wasn't a very pleasant thought.

Focusing back onto his unwanted followers, Sonic did a double take. They were GONE. Jerking his head back and forth, he slammed to a halt. A cloud of dust rose as he suddenly went from full on run to a dead stop. The azure werehog rose from his four-legged stance to just two legs. Sonic sneezed when some of the dust went right up his nose. Clearing his nose of the rude invasion, he again swept the area with his eyes in search of the Echidna warriors. Again, NOTHING. But for all the time they'd been chasing him, Sonic had never seen them falter, or for that matter even pause. The sudden silence and foreboding air seemed even more horrible than being chased. Warily turning his head back to the forest ahead, the blue werehog dropped to all fours and continued on. His triangular ears flicked at every small noise and he jumped at the hoot of an owl. Sonic wasn't sure what was worse. Paranoia or knowing **exactly** where your enemy was.

-O-

Unbeknownst to him, the Echidna warriors had disappeared suddenly for a reason. Their leader, the red dread-locked Echidna with purple eyes, was currently addressing the other Echidnas. "Remember your rolls well. One slip-up and the whole trap goes to hell. Got it?" He questioned the assembled warriors with a quirked eyeridge. They all nodded silently, faces set and resolute. "Good." The red Echidna smiled grimly. "Now, does anyone know where our volunteer helper got off to?" Unsure looks passed between the sitting warriors until one finally spoke up. "Knuckles…I mean Guardian…he said he needed his space and left a few minutes ago." The speaker, a young-looking reddish-orange Echidna by the nickname of Kneecaps glanced worriedly at Knuckles. A string of curses followed the young warrior's answer as Knuckles turned to find his 'volunteer'. "Damn Shadow, when I find him I'm gonna dye his friggin spines pink then shove a dress on his ass…" even after he entered the woods to look for the other hedgehog, his cursing and grumbling could still be heard. None of the other Echidnas said a word.

-O-

Sonic had relaxed considerably as nothing had happened in the past hour. No attack, no ambush, not even any noises that might suggest an oncoming assault. He was still uneasy though, as dawn had yet a few more hours till it would make its appearance. _Only a few more hours, then I can escape this hell. _The thought was like a promise, one Sonic sincerely intended to stick to. But if the Echidnas weren't pursuing him further, he could at least push his luck and catch up on some much-needed rest. Checking one last time for any pursuers, the werehog trotted over to a nearby tree. Making sure that its branches were sturdy enough first, he climbed up and settled himself on the lowest one. He sighed as he stared up at the night sky. Millions of stars glowed around the full and bright moon. Sonic felt powerful and carefree just gazing at the full moon. His transformations hurt far less when there was a full moon; the other times…Sonic shuddered. The other times it felt like every bone in his body was breaking into a million pieces… He sighed and tried to get comfortable against the tree. The moon's warm glow seemed to envelope him in a cloud of warm bliss, almost protectively wrapping him in its light. Closing his eyes, Sonic melted into that gentle radiance and let the darkness of sleep overtake him.

-O-

CRACK. The small noise hit Sonic's ears like the sound of a gunshot, and in less than a second, he was on the ground, alert and ready to fight. Growling, he swung his head towards where he thought the sound had come from. Crouching behind the bushes opposite Sonic's tree, Shadow cursed quietly. Damn twig. It had given his position away and now he had to move, **quickly**. Focusing on another set of bushes across the clearing, he closed his eyes and whispered, "Chaos Control." and vanished leaving only a cloud of green smoke. Peeking his head out of his new position, Shadow saw that he was now directly behind the blue beast. _Well Knuckles, whenever you want to put your brilliant plan into action, fire away. _He thought sardonically. Sonic dropped from his upright position back to all fours, still unsure of what the crack had been. Looking at the moon's position in the sky, he calculated he'd only been asleep for about half an hour or more. Whatever had made the sound, it was gone now, or at least to Sonic's sensitive hearing.

Shadow watched the cerulean werehog shake his fur roughly, as if to calm himself. Then the creature turned and made his way back towards his tree. Yawning, the lumbering beast began to pull himself up once more. And that's when Shadow struck. Summoning a chaos sphere in his palm, he chaos controlled behind the unaware werehog. Rising his hand behind his head, and muttering a quick apology to the poor beast for doing this, he brought his hand down. Sonic leaped away with a quick yelp as Shadow hand came down hard against the tree. Shadow briefly wondered how something so big could move so fast, and those reflexes… He was jerked out of his pondering as he saw the werehog turning to bolt. Summoning another chaos sphere, he jumped in front of the frightened animal and forced him to turn the other way. Without further obstruction, Sonic took off in the direction Shadow had forced him too. His senses were too far on basic animal instinct to listen to the reasoning side of Sonic, which screamed at him that there was something wrong. Sighing softly, Shadow followed after him. He had wanted to simply knock the creature out so that Knuckles didn't have to use what he had insisted was best to capture the beast; brute force. But seeing as he had just scared the werehog instead, he had no other choice then to turn him in the direction of Knuckle's trap and hope that no one got hurt. Too badly. Even though Shadow wasn't big on attacking creatures that he felt had done nothing wrong, that hot-headed Echidna was a different story. Knuckles had the habit of sometimes accusing before any solid evidence was found. Henceforth the current situation. Shadow didn't particularly care about some stupid tree that had been torn down in the Echidna's village. Nor did he care that immediately after spotting the giant werehog, Knuckles had pinned the attack on him. Shadow wouldn't have even gotten involved in this mess unless he hadn't owed Knuckles a favor. Which brought him back to his current task. He had been told to lure the werehog into the Echidna's trap. But judging from the creature's wide scared eyes and panting breath, he didn't want to chase anyone. So that made Shadow the predator; he would have to chase the beast right into the trap so Knuckles could do the rest. _Sorry werehog, but you're midnight romp ends here, _he thought as he saw the well-hidden trap coming into sight.

-O-

The before-mentioned Echidna was tapping his foot impatiently. What was taking Shadow so long? For an 'Ultimate Lifeform', he sure was ultimately slow. "Guardian, the werehog is headed this way, with Shadow right behind him!" Kneecaps called out to him. Knuckles nodded his head sharply to two other echidna warriors standing adjacent to Kneecaps. "Bone, Rath, move into positions!" he ordered the two warriors. Bone, a very pale red Echidna, scaled an overhanging tree skillfully, something rope-like in his grasp. Rath, a dark blood-red Echidna, snuck onto the other side with a similar object also in his hands. When the duo were both in their correct positions, they shot a thumbs-up to Knuckles. Satisfied that both warriors were ready, he narrowed his eyes at the oncoming werehog followed closely by Shadow. _That's right, come on you hulking monster. You're gonna __**pay**__ for what you did to the Emerald Tree._ Knuckles cracked his fists together in preparation for the approaching bout. He would make sure it was a short one though, for the werehog that is…

Sonic's breath came short and quick, his legs burning in exhaustion. Though he could move quite fast in this form, it wasn't near the speed he could achieve during the day. He knew that even Shadow wasn't going his full speed. Which was weird. Unless… _It's a trap_. His rational side finished the thought, able to finally break through to his conscious. Shadow wasn't **chasing** him, he was **herding** him. And he had to get out. NOW. Changing his direction sharply, Sonic tried to break off from wherever Shadow was trying to herd him. However, Shadow was still watching the werehog closely and swiftly drove him back on course. Snarling more out of fear than anything, Sonic tried again. Same result. Shadow wasn't about to let him change course. Which just confirmed Sonic's suspicions. It had to be a trap.

Trees quickly came into view as Shadow pushed him to even greater speeds. Then, at the last second before he got to the woods, he pulled up abruptly, allowing Sonic to slow down from their breakneck chase. Gasping for air, the weary werehog made his way into the forest. _Maybe Shadow can't run at that speed in the forest, maybe_— Sonic's thoughts were cut short as a loud command rang out to the side of him. "NOW!" Suddenly, *bolas were twirling in the air towards him from two different directions. He dodged the first, but the second caught him on his hind legs, causing him to drop like a rock. He struggled to get his feet untangled when Echidnas burst from all sides of the clearing and attacked. They swarmed over him like angry ants (or more precisely like wasps) and held him down. With alarming speed, Sonic found his front legs being bound together along with his back. The restraints were just so that he was hobbled, but could still walk. Running away though wouldn't be an option. The leader Echidna approached, crouching down so he was eye level with the tied werehog. Grabbing his snout roughly, he thrust a muzzle on and secured it tightly behind his head. Sonic whimpered pitifully. Knuckles rose to his feet again, looking disgustedly at the pleading gaze of the secured beast. "Not so tough now that you're finally gonna pay for what you did, huh, monster?" the red Echidna said harshly. Sonic, who couldn't reply with a muzzle on his mouth, simply whimpered again. Shadow watched impassively from the shadows, turning his head from the scene with hidden anger. He didn't think it was fair to tie the werehog down until he was defenseless and taunt him like that. It reminded him too much of what G.U.N. had tried to do to him. Knuckles tilted Sonic's chin up so he was forced to meet his gaze. Violet eyes stared angrily at emerald before he dropped his chin and stood back up. "Okay. Let's move out. We need to make it back to the tribe before dawn." He ordered the surrounding warriors. Closing his eyes sorrowfully, Sonic didn't think this night could get **any** worse than it already was.

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Well, that's Chapter 1 folks! No, I'm not abandoning I Won't Give Up, I plan to finish it in the next two or three weeks, even if it kills me! (Well, maybe not, but you get my drift) By the way, anytime you see those stars in my stories, it just means I'm gonna explain what that word is, so here:

*bolas - a length of rope weighted down on either end with a heavy ball; used by whirling above head in a circular motion, then thrown at the target.

Yay! Now you know what a bola is! Aren't you so proud? Thanks for reading and please rate and review! All critique is appreciated as long as it's polite. (Meanies eat your heart out!)

Note: If you see any grammer errors or just spelling mistakes or I dunno, wrong verb usage, please, please, please, PLEASE tell me! I don't want my story to be difficult to read because there are glaring errors. HOWEVER, DON'T write me about fragments, I know my story has them, and I love the things! They're like...vanilla extract! Rarely used but they make the whole thing taste better...or er...write better? I dunno, but I LOVE my fraggies and they ain't going nowhere!


	2. Once Burned, Twice Shy

**Aquila:** Bout time she got this submitted.

**Libra:** For once, we're in agreement. But she was in Tennessee for two days...with no WiFi...

**Aquila: **No. Excuses.

**Libra: **You. Are. Impossible.

**Aquilibra: **Do I get a say in this?

**Aquila & Libra: **NO!

**Aquilibra:** Sheesh, my bad. Just thought it was MY life 'en all.

**Aquila:** JUST GET TO THE STORY. NOW.

**Aquilibra: ***sulking* Fine, but you have to read the rights.

**Aquila:** Whatever... Sonic is not owned by Aquilibra, he is owned by SEGA and if you didn't know that you're obviously a dumbass.

**Aquilibra:** Aquila! We do not curse on the opening!

**Aquila:** Story is however written by Aquilibra and if you steal it I will personally rip your eyes out and castrate you.

**Libra:** What if it's a girl?

**Aquila:** I'll just kill you.

**Aquilibra: **La la la la, I can't hear you! La la la la...

**Sorry for the disturbing thoughts people, that's just a day inside my head. Anyway, again; Sonic and Co. are not owned by me, blah blah blah, yatta yatta yatta. But I do own some original characters, including Zella, Rath, Bone, Rugen, and Deyalli. I believe Kneecaps may already exist in the Sonic world, but I'm unsure. Tell me if you know. **

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**Chapter 2 – Once Burned, Twice Shy**

That march through the forest felt like the longest night of Sonic's life. Hobbled as he was, he could only shamble along hurriedly after the Echidnas' long strides. For once in his life, Sonic felt utterly SLOW. The muzzle on his snout prevented him from trying to reason with the Echidna leader, who he'd heard was called Knuckles, but then again, it might not have done any good anyway. When Sonic changed forms, many things were altered. Most noticeably, his pelt, which changed from almost neon blue to a darker shade of cobalt, and his body shape, his arms becoming longer, more muscular, and his legs becoming much thicker. Even his teeth stretched into large canines. Overall, his nightly form gave him greater strength and longer reach (he didn't quite understand it but his arms could stretch like rubber bands when he needed them too). The downsides? Mentally, Sonic had to struggle for control all night against the basic animalistic instincts inside him. The results of him losing this battle were, to put it lightly, disastrous. However, if he let his animal instincts go during a fight, it could actually be quite helpful. Rage and primal fury would take hold of him to the point of using tactics based purely on instinct. Tactics that he would never use otherwise. His mind wasn't the only disadvantage. When his teeth were changing, his throat also conformed. His voice became deeper, coarser, more suited for animal noises than talking. When he did try to talk, it sounded like he had gravel stuck in his throat. One would have to listen very closely and have it repeated several times to understand even a sentence from him. So, in other words, Sonic probably wasn't going to be able to talk his way out of this one even without the muzzle.

A quick jerk on the rope leading him made him nearly trip over his own front feet. He let out a quick snarl of frustration, which earned him a painful twist on his ear. The one holding the rope was Knuckles, undoubtedly the strongest of the warriors, and the only one not pretending not to be terrified of the bulky creature. The hobbles were understandable; Sonic knew he was quite heavy in this form, and nearly impossible to carry, even by the Echidnas. But a leash, seriously? That was just adding insult to injury. And he already had plenty of injuries. Being dragged along like this, he'd already fallen two or three times and cut his front paw on a rock, and earned a slash on his side from an unfriendly briar bush they had passed through. The leash itself was simply rope, but it was expertly woven and smeared with some kind of oil that seemed to glue the thing into one unbreakable length. It was most likely even made just for the occasion of hauling him back. Didn't he feel special?

-O-

Shadow trailed behind the slow procession of six Echidnas and one werehog. Knuckles hadn't said anything to him yet about him following them, but then again he probably hadn't noticed yet. He was otherwise occupied dragging the terrified creature along behind him. Again, that nagging annoyance that the Echidna treated the beast like this was infuriating in a way he couldn't understand. Also the fact that he had trailed after them was a mystery to Shadow himself. Normally, he would have just left as soon as his favor was done, but this time was different. Maybe he was bored…or maybe something about that dark blue werehog was…alluring to him. Shadow shook his head roughly. _I am NOT going to even go down that path._ He cursed his thoughts for even bringing up that suggestion. Looking up, he noticed that Knuckles and the others had started to vanish over the horizon. The frustrated black hedgehog briskly strode after the receding group. They didn't even seem to notice as he quickly went back to the business of following silently. Whether he liked it or not, he HAD to know what they were going to do with the werehog. His conscious wouldn't let him live without the knowledge. "Shit. The one time I DO care about someone, it has to be a freaking monster. Great. Just great." Shadow muttered angrily as the parade of angry Echidna warriors and their prisoner came to a halt at the edge of the woods.

-O-

Sonic lifted his head in confusion as he felt the tugging of the leash suddenly stop. Knuckles was paused in front of him, looking beyond the tree line to something below. Straining his head around the bulky (I'm not saying he's fat!) red warrior, Sonic tried to get a glimpse of whatever was past him. Not too far below, a village lay sprawled out in some kind of sheltered valley. Torches lit up the night from below so the town could be seen from afar. A smooth dip in the land kept the small town nestled in the center of two huge stretches of forests. A surging river ran right through the middle of the valley, as well as the town, and a separate river broke off from the mainstream to end in a large waterfall with a lake at the bottom. This was the only upset in the cup-like appearance of the valley. Beside the waterfall, what appeared to have been a very large tree was lying broken on the ground. Gigantic claw marks in the trunk made it looked like some beast had ripped to the tree down bare-handedly. Guessing at his current situation, the Echidnas probably thought that beast was **him**. Looking back at the village, Sonic could also tell that a slight amount of damage had also been dealt there. Smashed in walls, broken roofs, and general disarray were just a few hints to this.

With an ominous air, Knuckles again began to lead him down the incline towards the small town. It seemed almost as if the red warrior had wanted him to see the damage. Like he was saying: _Do you see what you did, you monster? Are you happy with all the destruction you caused? _To which in response Sonic would have answered: _But I didn't __**do**__ this! It wasn't me! Please, you have the wrong werehog for crying out loud! _Of course, the whole conversation wasn't actually going to happen, so Sonic couldn't plead his innocence.

Glancing back once more, Sonic spotted the dark striped hedgehog who had tried to barbecue him earlier silently following the equally quiet war party. Desperately, he sent a pleading look his way before he was again pulled unwillingly forward by the impatient red Echidna. Unbeknownst to Sonic, Shadow **did **catch the look, and the begging note in his eyes, but he could do nothing for the werehog. The group drew closer and closer to the village, and for the first time, its occupants looked up to see the oncoming parade. Knuckles led, with werehog Sonic in tow behind him, followed closely by Rath and Bone, and then Kneecaps, Deyalli, and Rugen. Deyalli and Rugen had jumped the werehog when he'd first fallen in the trap and hobbled his back legs. Both Echidnas were stout in build, with slightly differing shades of red on their coats. Noticeably though, Deyalli had a dark patches of red under his eyes, giving him a grim expression.

The villagers' expressions were first of shock and surprise, but when their eyes again fell upon the hulking Sonic, hatred and anger seemed to replace any astonishment that had been there before. As he was led through the crowd of Echidnas, they glared at him like he was…a monster. Sonic felt like he'd gotten stuck in some funeral procession of a homicide victim, and he was the murderer. Each step brought him farther into the hostile throng of people. Despite feeling he had done nothing wrong, Sonic looked at the ground in shame. All those eyes on him, full of nothing but hate and anger… He shivered inside. If he was to even sneeze, they would probably all jump him like a rabid pack of hyenas. The entire mood of everyone appeared to be somewhat less than relaxed.

When he had reached the center of the crowd, Knuckles brusquely stopped, making Sonic nearly run over the tense figure. Coming up short just in time, he looked up from the ground to see why they'd stopped. Another Echidna was making their way through the mass of townspeople. Sonic could see she was an older female, with kind, soft blue eyes and a very toned down version of Knuckle's fur color. Respectfully, they inclined their heads as she passed, and parted like water in front of her. Though she did have something akin to Knuckle's color, Sonic could see as she got closer to him that she was actually orange. Her white robe appeared almost silver in the torchlight, and bangles jingled as she walked forward leaning slightly on a carved staff. More jewelry adorned her neck, and golden bands were braided into her ginger locks. Overall, she was a character who seemed to command a lot of respect to the surrounding people.

Raising his head from where it had been bowed, Knuckles started to speak to the female Echidna. "Priestess, we have found the one who dared to destroy our beloved Emerald Tree." The red warrior said with a dark look in Sonic's direction. Taking one look at the werehog's nervous and scared expression, the female sighed inwardly._ Trust Knuckles to already find someone to take the blame for what happened, _she thought sadly. But instead of voicing her thoughts aloud, she broached a totally new topic. "Knuckles, enough with this 'Priestess' business. It's Tikal. You know I hate that title. It makes me feel old…" the last part was muttered so only her and the werehog (with his very sensitive hearing) heard the comment. Knuckles looked slightly taken aback by the change of topics, but he stubbornly refused to give ground to the female Priestess. "Fine…Tikal." Knuckles waited for only a moment then plunged back to the matter at hand. "Like I was saying before, Kneecaps, Rath, Bone, Deyalli, Rugen, and I managed to capture the beast." He nodded his head to each member of the war party as he said their names. Sonic got a glare when he was mentioned. Shadow, standing almost unnoticeably behind the last in line (Rugen), snorted softly as Knuckles failed to mention his help. Of course he didn't say that Shadow had helped him and his little gang catch the werehog, that would be too hard on the Echidna's pride. Suddenly, Shadow smirked as a devious idea came to mind. Slipping past Rugen and the others, he crept unobserved to Knuckles' side. Tikal caught sight of the dark stranger and her breath caught in her throat. In truth she'd never seen a creature quite like him. His black fur color coupled with his red spine stripes made him look almost…demonic. Knuckles noticed Tikal's shocked expression, and followed her gaze to Shadow, who was grinning darkly beside him. Knuckles kicked himself mentally for allowing the anti-hero to follow him back to the village. "A-and w-who is y-your f-fr-friend?" Tikal managed to stutter out, still looking stunned. "Uhhh…this is-" Knuckles managed to say before the striped hedgehog cut him off. "Shadow. Pleased to meet you…Priestess." He replied with a smirk and a silky tone. Nodding her head numbly to show she'd heard, Tikal turned back to Knuckles. "So why is…Shadow…with you? Did he do something?" she asked anxiously glancing at both him and the werehog. "Other than help Red here catch this so-called 'beast', no." Shadow interrupted again. Slightly recovered from her earlier shock from his strange appearance, Tikal instead glared at him. Then as she understood his words, she switched her glare to Knuckles. "So just you and the other warriors, huh? Just like you to take all the credit, Knuckles. You're such a glory hog." Despite her displeased manner, her eyes softened with weariness. It was almost four in the morning, and her bedtime was long since passed. She'd only stayed up because the rest of the town was impatiently awaiting the return of the war party. Now that they were here, she was more than happy to continue this conversation in the morning.

Sonic could tell that the elder female was tired; he could smell it as well as see it. Tikal gave a small yawn and rubbed her temples. Knuckles caught the gesture and quickly decided this would be better discussed the next day. "I'm sorry for keeping you up Tikal, we can resume this tomorrow morning if you'd like." He said gently. The dark blue werehog was surprised by the tenderness in his tone; he hadn't thought the Echidna capable of such a thing as kindness. _But why would he show any to you? You're the __**monster**__ that attacked his sacred tree_; a tiny voice inside him reminded him. _Oh shut up_; he told the voice. He certainly didn't need reminders of why he was here in the first place. Meanwhile, Tikal nodded graciously at Knuckles and looked at Shadow once again. "I suppose you're sleeping here?" she raised an eyeridge uncertainly at the black crimson-streaked hedgehog. She still didn't quite know what to think of the mysterious character. Shadow smirked, but nodded his head. "Good. You can sleep in the guest pavilion. Zella!" Tikal shouted out a girl's name and an extremely dark red Echidna teen appeared. Zella was average height for her age, but the most defining feature about her was her turquoise eyes. They glowed with an eerie light, like little fluorescent lights were permanently turned on behind them. Lighter red stripes were also on her arms and legs, though some were covered by the top and skirt she wore. She stood at attention in front of Tikal, ready for her task. "Zella, if you will please show…Shadow…to the guest quarters for the night." Zella nodded and motioned for Shadow to follow her. Before he left with the teen, Tikal grabbed his arm and looked unblinkingly into his eyes. "You are welcome to come and join the tribe for communion (aka breakfast) tomorrow." Shadow said nothing, simply staring back mutely at her. Tikal let go of his arm and he started again after the girl. As he walked off, he heard Tikal say something quietly after him. "Thank you…" He stopped and slightly turned his head back to look at her, nodded, then continued on.

-O-

Unlike Shadow, Sonic's living arrangements were a little less than comfortable. He was more or less tossed into a dark cave, and then steel bars descended over the entrance. Two Echidna warriors, a pair he hadn't seen before, stood guard at the entrance to the makeshift prison. _Oooh don't I feel honored_; Sonic thought sarcastically. Flopping down onto the cold ground, Sonic wished they'd had at least given him a blanket. He wasn't an animal ya know. He laid his head on his massive paws and stared out through the bars at the night sky. The full moon still glowed in the deep blue sky, looking almost forlorn because dawn would arrive soon. Dawn. Another thing Sonic was worrying about. When the sun came up it was over. As soon as the first rays touched the horizon, Sonic's true identity would be discovered. After that, he wouldn't be able to hide even in the day anymore. Sighing, he shifted to his side and tried to conserve his body heat. Curling into a giant dark cobalt ball of fur, he closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep.

Finally, after a few minutes, Sonic the werehog drifted into an uneasy sleep plagued with worries of what would happen in the morning. But for now, morning was a long time away, and sleep felt sooo good…

* * *

**Well, did you enjoy the story? I believe this chapter was even longer than the last. And I still refuse to tell you what the Echidnas are planning to do with Sonic! Bwah haha ha! I'm so evil... *spazified laughter***

**Rate and review please! I thoroughly enjoy good commentary just like any other author! So please, write a review! I'd love to hear from ya! **


	3. Here And Gone

**Libra:** Long time no love!

**Aquila: **I'm betting most people just assumed she abandoned this story.

**Libra: **Don't say that! it's not true!_ *sticks tongue out at Aquila*_

**Aquila: **_*rolls eyes*_ Whatever.

**Libra: **Anyway, here's Aquilibra with some important info and stuff!

**Aquilibra here; want to thank you guys for all your comments and support! I was reading over them yesterday, and I was inspired to finish this chapter, so thank you! Anyway, I've been kind of busy with my brand new project: Catastrophe. Thankfully though, I made some time to rescue you all from that ledge where I left you hanging! So enjoy what your support for this story and its undeserving author have accomplished!  
**

****Please be aware I claim no right to any and all Sonic Universe characters used. I gain no profit from this story. Otherwise I imagine I'd be poor anyway. **

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**Chapter 3 – Here And Gone**

Rays of bright morning light hit the sleeping form at the back of the cave full in the face, glaring down at him in a seemingly angry way. Slowly blinking his eyes against the sunlight, Sonic wearily rose to his feet and stretched his cramping muscles. His entire backside and neck felt like he'd been sleeping on a rock, which in truth, he had. For a moment he simply yawned and forgot about all the trouble he was in. noticing a small pool of water in the now bright cavern, he trotted over to it and looked down. He backpedaled speedily with horror as he realized that he'd transformed overnight. _Crap_, he thought when he recognized his normal bright blue fur, emerald eyes without a smidge of beast in them, and regular sneakers. The werehog was no more; now Sonic the **hedgehog **was back. In a way, he was happy to be back being…well…him. But at the same time he knew that when the Echidnas found out… The sound of metal scraping on stone brought his attention to the entrance of the cave. Soon, several footsteps accompanied by hushed voices made him realize just who had finally showed up just in time to see him like this. Much as he'd like to stay and be the Echidna's prisoner (detect the sarcasm in that statement)…he had to get out of here and find out what had happened last week. And if the Echidnas stood between him and that knowledge…he was sure as heck gonna make them regret it.

But only the sound of one pair of feet made its way into the cave, and they weren't the heavy footfalls of a warrior Echidna. They were the light tread of someone used to hiding in the shadows unseen. And who but the living embodiment of a shadow could it be? Sonic's guess was proved correct as a soft, low voice called out into the cave from the entrance. "Werehog?" what was Shadow doing here? Earlier he seemed to be helping the Echidnas; something very un-Shadow-esque. You couldn't really call it heroic, but it was pretty damn close. Maybe he had come now to take him to Knuckles. If that was the case, then he had to escape without the other seeing him. With his speed, this wouldn't have been a huge problem for any other. But this was Shadow, the same hedgehog that had the ability to run at sonic speeds and track objects moving at that velocity with ease. So the chance of him getting past the black and red counterpart was very, very slim. Sonic shivered as he remembered the look of pure loathing Knuckles had given him. Carefully creeping to towards the wall, the blue hedgehog pressed himself flat against the surface and prayed that the other wouldn't venture inside. Of course as soon as he thought this, light footsteps echoed down the short tunnel as Shadow continued into the cave. _Stupid, stupid Shadow…crap this is bad. _Sonic thought, desperately searching for something to hide behind. Unfortunately the inner cavern proved just as cold and barren as it had looked [and felt] last night. Sneaking a glance around the corner to look for Shadow, he could only make out the approaching red eyes as he quickly jerked back into the safety of the shadows. Why was his nemesis even helping the Echidnas? It didn't make sense! The other 'hog always referred to himself as an "anti-hero" so why the sudden heroism? _Not that you could really call it that_, Sonic grumbled inside, slipping down the wall to sit on his rear. He drew in a quick breath as his heightened senses picked up Shadow nearly to the opening to the inner cavern. Huddling himself deeper into the darkness of the corner, Sonic held his breath as he felt the other reach the bend. The spines on his back raised with tensions as he could practically feel the other's soft breath on his flattened ears. Sonic pressed himself hard into the wall, crushing his spines against the rock, and flinching in brief pain.

Shadow paused at the small grotto entrance. Bewilderment took over his features as he scanned the area pensively. He knew the werehog was an enormous beast—he had seen it himself last night just what kind of fight the creature could put up—but here he was, in the same place he'd seen Knuckles' warriors put the beast, and yet there was no sign of him. He folded his arms and put a hand to his chin, tapping his face thoughtfully. Shadow wracked his brain for any way the werehog could have escaped. Just from the look of the solid rock about him revealed that there was no way the creature could have tunneled through the solid stone. It had to be at least three feet thick and—shadow paused suddenly as he heard a slight scraping coming from behind him. Whirling about to come into a ready fighting stance, he realized he'd come farther into the cavern then he'd thought. His ears zeroed in on the source of the sound just as his eyes did. A very familiar shape was outlined in the filtered light of the cave, small triangular stood erect and alert, and he could imagine a surprised expression on the face of the other. Bright emerald green eyes stared affrightedly at him. For a moment neither moved, but then slowly Shadow took one step towards the other, eyes widening as his ability to speak came back to him. "Son—" He was unable to finish as Sonic's nerve broke and he turned with a sudden ferocity and shot out of the cave like a bullet. Shadow stood frozen staring at the place where the blue 'hog had previously stood only a second ago, thoroughly confused. _Why was Sonic—?_ And then suddenly his brain realized what it had already put together at the sight of the other. _Oh shit. This is bad, very, very bad. _At that point he wanted to cradle his head in his hands with guilt. He had practically just betrayed the one and only person who had ever tried to befriend him since…since Maria! Sonic must hate his guts now! Shadow took off in the direction the other had gone, reaching the entrance of the cave of searching the horizon for that familiar shape. "**Wait!**" He yelled, not caring if the Echidnas heard him; he had to find Sonic and tell him!

Sonic pushed himself to greater speeds as he neared a temporary hiding place. He stumbled into the shelter of the forest and paused to breathe. The blue hedgehog bent to rest his hands on his calves, chest heaving with the sudden exertion. His panting died down as he stretched once before walking further into the dim woods. Sonic didn't hear the other giving chase, so maybe he was too shocked, or didn't put two and two together. The last thing he needed right now was Shadow knowing his horrible secret. He paused with his hand against a tree trunk as a distant shout reached his ears. It sounded like Shadow…except panicky. _Naw, couldn't be_, the blue 'hog quickly dismissed that idea the moment it popped into his head. _Shadow didn't _do_ panicky. _He sincerely doubted the other one could express panic on his face. The only expression the black hedgehog seemed to know was a frown. The thought of anything else there was as foreign as Sonic hating chilidogs. _Better move on_, Sonic thought with one last glance over his shoulder before quickly taking off into the security of the forest.

Meanwhile, Shadow was almost to the point of tearing out his own quills out of frustration. Where was that blue hedgehog?! He had searched the surrounding area with painstaking care, making sure not to miss nary a cranny. What kind of niche could the hero have discovered to hide himself so well? There was no way he could be so familiar with the territory to disappear without a tra—wait…what _was_ Sonic familiar with?

Of course! Why hadn't he seen it sooner? The woods!

Shadow tore of like a deranged rabbit towards the direction of the large patch of forest on the outskirts of the Echidna's village. As soon as he found Sonic, he would pin him to the ground and explain to him firmly that he hadn't helped the Echidnas kidnap him on purpose. Shadow didn't really have a great way with words, but he was sure he could convince the other of his innocence. With the right…persuasion.

-LATER THAT NIGHT-

Feeling footsore and hungry (what he wouldn't give for a good chilidog right now), Sonic decided to call it quits in what he supposed was as good a place as any to spend the night in the forest. Piling a small amount of dead leaves on a clear patch of ground for his bed, he burrowed in happily; glad to be free and in his element. The small glade wasn't completely devoid of trees, but just enough to give a clear view of the sky overhead. He had spent most of the day trekking through the woods, trying to get as far as he could before night came. While his werehog form gave him obvious advantages in strength, it greatly hindered his speed. He wasn't exactly a lumbering beast so to speak, but he wasn't nearly as swift and agile. And seeing as how he'd also decided to hide in the woods, right now wouldn't be the best time to test just how good his reflexes were in werehog form.

Yawning tiredly, the cerulean hero curled onto his side and shut his eyes. Might as well take advantage of the ability to sleep undisturbed while he could. There was no telling when either an angry mob of Echidna warriors or worse—a seriously pissed Shadow—would find him. But for now, his secret was safe…well, mostly anyways.

For the third time since he had journeyed into this damned forest, Shadow tripped on an exposed tree root. "Shit!' He cursed angrily from his position on the ground, very tempted to roll over and chaos blast the stupid tree. However, he somehow managed to rein in his anger as he climbed to his feet. Maybe it was the fact that blasting the tree out of existence wouldn't have solved anything…or maybe it was that fact that his ears had picked up the distant sound of snoring. That definitely improved his mood. A self-satisfied grin crossed his face in a "fucking finally!" kind of way. Firing up his jet shoes with a boost of chaos energy, he set off in the direction he was sure Sonic was in. As he flew past trees and brush alike, his mind wandered back to his earlier realization. _If Sonic is that…thing…it must happen under a full moon. _That's what it had been last night, and checking the sky quickly, it would be the same tonight he assumed. But no amount of reasoning he could do explained **why** Sonic was becoming a monster under a full moon. That question would have to be answered by the speedster himself.

"Well, well, well…what do we have here?" Shadow muttered softly as he reached a well-hidden glade and the source of the snoring. The sound was emanating from a bundle curled up on top of a small pile of dead leaves. The bundle's side rose and fell rhythmically, and a distinct sort of purring and snuffling reached Shadow's ears. He could help but smirk as he walked over to the curled up form that was Sonic. "Clever hog..." He whispered as he surveyed his rival as he'd never seen him. Sonic seemed so…peaceful. More relaxed then he had ever been in his presence before. Of course, he hadn't ever seen Sonic sleep (he wasn't his stalker or anything), so it made sense that the other looked this peaceful while he slept. Moving with silent grace, he straddled the other, carefully rolling the blue hedgehog onto his back. Shadow gently settled his weight on the other's stomach, careful not to put too much pressure lest he wake the other. Narrowing his red eyes thoughtfully, he leaned forward to peer at the hero's face. Sonic's muzzle held a tiny smile…figured the do-gooder smiled so cheekily even in his sleep…though other than that he looked completely lifeless. Whereas in the waking world Sonic was an obnoxious, overconfident hero, in his sleep he was more…

_…Cute._

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**Yay! Cutesy ending! **

**Sorry, all this fluff is getting to my brain. Plus its been really stormy where I live right now, so I get headaches all the time. Curse you weather! Anyway, as always rate and review, I love to hear from you guys! Also, don't forget to inform me if you find any grammar errors. Happy readings!**

**-Aquilibra**

**(P.S. - Got any questions or comments/suggestions for this fic or any of my others? Feel free to PM me! I'm always open to suggestions and constructive criticism!)**


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